Presently, automobiles are opened, closed, locked and unlocked by keys, door handles and other mechanical latching and unlatching devices. There is also available today for many automobiles a hand-held remote device with buttons thereon. Each button corresponds to a specific command. Currently, there is one button per command with the most common commands including lock doors, unlock doors, unlock trunk, set alarm, or honk horn. The user presses a specific button in order to implement and transfer the specific command to the automobile.
Remote devices currently used do not distinguish one user from another. For example, if the owner of the car drops or loses the remote activation device, a passerby may pick up the remote, which usually has the key attached thereto. Any person holding the remote device may unlock the doors, honk the horn, or perform other functions permitted by the command keys. This has created the unfortunate situation in which the security of the automobile is significantly compromised.
Formerly, if only a key was lost, any person finding the key would be required to test the physical key out on many automobiles and, given the options in a large parking lot, it difficult or impossible to find the automobile which matched the key. With current remote command devices, a passerby who has picked up the remote access device can honk the horn, turn on the lights, or perform other functions which will identify at a distance the automobile. Even at some distance, a hundred feet or more away, a person may press the command buttons which will identify the car for which he holds the key. While this is convenient for a user approaching their own car, any other person can also easily walk up and down the rows of a parking lot, pressing the command button in an attempt to locate the automobile corresponding to the remote command device. It thus provides an advantage to a thief who has obtained the remote command device and is using it in an attempt to steal the car.